At a sun-drenched Paycare Ground, a release from the recent poor weather brought out a bumper crowd to watch Darlaston's first home game for just over a month.

Manager Parkes selection was beset with problems, with several players unavailable for selection. Leon Taylor and Tyrone Clarke O'Connell both unavailable and Ryan McAllister, Ashley Justin, Dave Richards, Sam Giles and Ant Follows all injured Darlaston boss Andy Parkes gave a debut to Adam Perager, whilst 17-year-old Sam Lynex and Ant Nicholls both made their first full League appearance of the season.

The visitors made a dream start with a goal inside 90 seconds. A through ball found Stuart Hillman who shrugged off the challenge of Zuki Stanton before sliding the ball beyond keeper Aaron Morris into the far corner of the net. The goal unsettled the home side who were shell shocked as the re-jigged line up took several minutes to regain their composure and ease their way back into the game. After both Scott Broadway and Danny Mayne both failed to convert difficult chances the equaliser eventually came on 15 minutes, when an Ant Nicholls drive from 18 yards beat keeper Joe Gilbert.

The goal gave Darlaston some confidence and they enjoyed a spell of pressure which could've seen them take the lead. Leading scorer Broadway beat two defenders before seeing his 15-shot hit the foot of the post and rebound to safety. minutes later Nicholls unleashed a tremendous 25 yard shot which rattled the bar and bounced off the goal line, Nathan guest clearing the danger before Broadway could convert.

The visitors looked dangerous with Arnold Chaponda impressing whilst Hillman was a thorn in the side of new central defensive partnership of Stanton and Ryan Jones, his running beyond the defenders posing a threat on two occasions. Hillman was rewarded for his running behind the defence in the 30th minute when he picked up a Chaponda pass before easing past Stanton to set up Eddy Rann to side foot home from 8 yards.

The game was evenly balanced, Lucas Hough and Luke Charlton were impressive for the home side with some probing midfield passes but Matthew Holland and Josh Raden stood firm at the heart of the visitor’s defence.

In the opening minutes of the second half Sam Lynex had an opportunity to equalise, but he delayed his shot allowing Nathan Guest to make an excellent blocking tackle to deny the youngster his first goal of the season.

Wrens Nest responded, Eddy Rann shooting from distance and Chaponda failing to get his shot off under pressure from Sam Causton. Hillman was only inches away from beating the offside trap as the Assistant Referee's flag thwarted the lively striker. The visitors delivered the killer blow on 62 minutes when Hillman netted his second goal of the game heading home Rann's corner, as he stole in unmarked at the far post. Minutes later a superb Aaron Morris save denied Hillman his hat trick. The striker broke clear of the home defence, his 22-yard effort couldn't beat Morris who made an excellent save diving to his right.

As the game entered the final 20 minutes Darlaston were chasing the game but they were unable to create any worthwhile chances Guest and skipper Matt Holland both impressive with excellent saving tackles. In an effort to get something from the game Manager Parkes made three substitutions with Nick Lewis and 17-year-old Ade Allen and 18-year-old Mason Hodgson all introduced. Two late free kicks from Lewis and Hough both brought comfortable saves from Gilbert and despite all their huffing and puffing the home side could not get themselves back into the game as the visitors held out comfortably for a 3-1 win.

Next Saturday Darlaston will be looking to get back to winning ways when Herefordshire based Kington Town visit The Paycare Ground for the last home game of the season. Kick off 3.00 pm